The Nobel Peace Prize-winning diplomat reshaped the organization as a champion of human rights

Kofi Annan, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning diplomat who rose through the ranks of the United Nations to become its first black African secretary-general and reshape the organization as a proponent of human rights, died Saturday at the age of 80.

Mr. Annan’s family confirmed his death from a short, unspecified illness, in a statement from his foundation.